Clamp



(No Model.) B. TALBOT.

CLAMP.

No. 419,379. Patented J 1890.

UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

EBENEZER TALBOT, OF WINDSOR LOCKS, CONNECTICUT.

CLAMP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 419,379, dated January 14, 1890. Application filed September 5, 1889. Serial No. i323,038. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EBENEZER TALBOT, of WVindsor Locks, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Clamps, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to an improvement in clamps for the use of tobacco raisers and curers.

In the curing of tobacco it is suspended to strips of wood and hung in an airy building to dry gradually. Several stalks of tobacco are placed on a strip or slat by slitting the stalks longitudinally near the butt-ends with a proper tool and then inserting the strips within the slots from one end of the slat, the stalks being arranged at spaced intervals thereon. As there is a viscid juice in the green tobacco-stalks, this,when dried, cements the stalks to the strips of wood whereon these are suspended, and it requires the joint efforts of two persons in the ordinary way to remove the tobacco from the wooden strips after the curing process is completed, one person holding the end of the strip while the other removes the tobacco-stalks by pulling them off of the other end of the strip. It is important that the tobacco in this form be preserved in a cleanly condition, and that it be handled carefully to avoid breaking the leaves from the stem or stalk.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple, cheap, an d convenient clamp orholder,

whereby the strips of wood'may be held at a proper height by one end, so that one operator may quickly place the stalks of tobacco thereon by moving them endwise onto the other or free end of the strip.

A further object is to furnish a clamp which may be quickly attached to any suitable post or other stable support and be in position to grip one end of the tobacco-supporting strips, so that the cured tobacco can be rapidly removed by one operator stripping the stalks successively off of the free end of the held strip.

With these ends in view my invention consists in the peculiar construction of parts to adapt them for the designated use, as is hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be made to the accompanying drawings, forming apart of this specification, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, in which similar letters represent corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a perspective View of the clamping device in position and. supporting a wooden strip whereon tobacco is hung. Fig. 2 is a top plan view-of the device removed from the upright support with a strip of wood clamped on it.

The clamping device is composed of a bracket-block C, having its end portions each provided with a conical point f, which may be inserted as shown or be cast integral with the block, so as to project from its face. (See Fig. 2.) An integral limb B extends from the block C on the same side that the conical points f are formed upon and terminates in a bent end B, that is furnished with a cross-handled set-screw bolt 0. The oppo site face of the bracket-block is provided with two integral jaws C, which proj eat therefrom in parallel planes suitably spaced apart to receive between them the cam-head D, that is pivoted thereto at a and extends as a lever, having a handle 6. The intervening space between the jaws C, where they join the block C, is increased in width, as at in Fig. 1, thus adapting the jaws to receive edgewise the strip E, whereon tobacco-stalks are hung, as at b, and hold it securely by one end, leaving the other end free for the removal of the tobacco by an operator.

In operation the clamp is secured upon an upright timber, which may be a portion of the frame of a building or a post provided specially for the purpose, the conical points f and screw-bolt c affording means to retain the clamp in firm connection with the timber at a convenient height from the floor or ground to permit the strip E to be clamped near one end, as shown in Fig. 1.

The cam-piece g of the head D should have sufficient eccentricity to allow stripsof various thicknesses to be held in place. WVhen the strip is held projecting at a right angle to the post or timber A, it is evident that one man can expeditiously and easily remove tobacco-stalks from the supportingstrips of wood and avoid injury thereto or soiling the same.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Let ters Patent, is-

1. A clamp for tobacco-growers use, composed of a bracket-block having an integral limb that. is bent at a right angle near its free end, a handled set-screw bolt inserted in the bent end, two integral oppositely-recessed and parallel jaws, and a lever having a camshaped head pivoted between the j aws,which, by its vibration, will clamp a wooden strip thatis inserted between the recessed portions of the parallel jaws, substantially as set forth.

2. In a clamp for tobacco-growers use, the combination, with a bracket-block having two projecting conical points which may en- EBENEZER TALBOT.

Witnesses:

GEORGE P. CLARK, J. W. JOHNSON. 

